Copa 71

“An archival treasure trove of sports history.” –The Film Stage

Co-presented by Oakland Soul!

In August 1971, soccer teams from England, Argentina, Mexico, France, Denmark, and Italy gathered at Mexico City’s sun-drenched Azteca Stadium. The scale of the tournament was monumental: lavish sponsorship, extensive TV coverage, merchandise on every street corner, and crowds of over 100,000 roaring fans turn this historic stadium into a cauldron of noise match after match. A fawning media treat the players like rock stars. The atmosphere is reminiscent of the greatest moments in international soccer history. However, this is a tournament unlike anything that’s happened before. The players on the pitch are all women, and you’ve likely never even heard of it. This is Copa 71, the pioneering and unofficial Women’s World Cup. Dismissed by both the leading governing body and domestic soccer associations around the world, this extraordinary event had been sidelined in history, until now.